Lark Distillery LD74

The Lark Distillery does single barrel bottlings, so every bottling is slightly different. They use a wide variety of different casks, but this particular bottling - the LD74 - was matured in 100 litre french oak port barrels (in fact all the bottlings I tried turned out to be french oak port barrels).

The smell is filled with vanilla and citrus. Sweet, but balanced by a hint of oak. Not deep or complex, but very morish.

The taste is rich, with hints of cherries, vanilla and general fruitiness. Specifically, the hint of citrus remains, and when you add in just a hint of spirit warmth it's like a good christmas cake cooked with alcohol. Genuinely good.

The finish is gentle, but warm. The vanilla and citrus fade, leaving a gentle fruity sweetness that lasts a minute or two. Not incredibly long, but I enjoyed every minute.

A genuinely good bottling.